It is easy being green

By {screen_name}

I made a few new goals for the New Year. I don't like calling them resolutions because we all know what happens with those. One goal was eating healthier with more raw food in my diet — and I'm not talking about sushi.

You can grow your own fresh raw greens all year long, even when it is -2 degrees outside. A trip to The Vitamin Cottage and you will find all kinds of seeds you can easily sprout right in your cupboard.

I chose alfalfa sprouts because this is what I'm most familiar with, but they had all kinds including bean sprouts, broccoli sprouts, and many I had never heard of like Mung beans.

These little babies are super high in nutrients and add a fresh, nutty taste to sandwiches, soups and salads.

Sprouting is quick, easy and economical. I used a simple Mason jar and a screw top lid from The Vitamin Cottage with ready made holes for oxygen. You could also use cheese cloth or screen to fit over the top of your jar. Anything that will let the oxygen in and keep the little sweeties inside.

Place a tablespoon of seeds in your jar and cover them with cool water and let them soak 6-8 hours. Pour off the water through the holes and roll the jar to spread the seeds out in the jar. Set the jar in a dark cupboard tipped up on edge in a bowl lined with a dish towel so water can continue to drip out. You want the seeds to be moist not soaked.

Three times every day take the jar out of the cupboard and rinse the seeds through the holes in the jar, swirl them around and drain, placing the jar back in the dark cupboard. You can see them start to sprout after the first day.

After 3-4 days take the sprouts out and swirl them in a bowl of water. The husks of the seeds with float to the top where you can skim them off and discard. Don't worry, you don't need to get them all. Place the sprouts back in the jar and set the jar tipped up in a bowl in front of a sunny window. In a matter of a few hours you can see the seeds starting to turn green from photosynthisis!

Rinse the seeds again and place them in a container in your fridge until you are ready to use them.

You can store the dry seeds for a long period of time which would make them handy in case of emergencies when other fresh veggies may not be available. I am excited to try different seeds and keep my family in fresh greens all winter long.

"Watching something grow is good for morale. It helps you believe in life."
-Myron S. Kaufman